The present invention relates to an image receiving sheet for sublimation transfer used in combination with a thermal sublimation transfer recording medium.
Recently, a demand for a full color printer has been increasing. A recording system of the full color printer includes an electrophotographic system, an ink jet system, and a thermal transfer system. The thermal transfer system attracts public attention because of easy maintenance and low noise.
The thermal transfer system is used in either melting transfer recording or sublimating transfer recording. In the melting transfer recording, an image receiving sheet is superimposed on a recording medium having a transfer layer in which a coloring agent is dispersed into a thermally melting substance. Heat is then applied imagewise to the recording medium to melt the transfer layer. Thus, an image is transferred and recorded onto the image receiving sheet.
In the sublimating transfer recording, an image receiving sheet is superimposed on a recording medium having a transfer layer containing a thermally sublimating dye or a thermally transferring dye, which will be simply referred to as a sublimating dye herein. Heat is then applied imagewise to the recording medium so that the dye of the transfer layer is sublimated and transferred onto the image receiving sheet. Thus, an image is recorded on the image receiving sheet.
When a full color image is recorded, the sublimating transfer recording is generally superior to the melting transfer recording in view of fidelity of color tone.
In the conventional sublimating transfer recording, an image receiving sheet has been used which comprises a substrate, such as a paper sheet, a synthetic paper sheet or a synthetic resin film, and a dye receiving layer formed thereon from e.g. a thermoplastic polyester resin showing strong dyeing affinity to a sublimating dye.
However, the conventional image receiving sheet has a release property insufficient to be peeled from the surface of a recording medium. In particular, when the image receiving sheet is used in a so-called n-fold mode recording method, in which an image is recorded onto the image receiving sheet by setting the running speed of the image receiving sheet to a value n-times (n&gt;1) the running speed of a recording medium while the image receiving sheet is superimposed on the recording medium, strong frictional force may be caused between the image receiving sheet and the recording medium resulting in fusion of the sheet and medium or fracture of the sheet.